In the early 2000s, a young economics graduate from Singapore arrived at Harvard Business School to study global business. One summer, he landed an internship at a California startup still trying to figure out how to turn social media into a profitable business. That company was Facebook, and his manager that summer was Mark Zuckerberg.
Back then Facebook was the archetypal Silicon Valley startup—beanbags, hoodies, and an atmosphere of caffeinated optimism. For Shou Zi Chew, the internship offered a firsthand view of the tech world’s rapid rise. No one could have known that, years later, he would stand across the public and political battlegrounds from Zuckerberg, leading a platform Zuckerberg never fully conquered.
A Global Detour That Changed Everything
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Lukasz Kobus
After his short stint at Facebook, Chew did not remain in Silicon Valley. He built a career across London, Singapore, and Hong Kong, earning experience in finance and technology investments. His profile rose significantly when he joined Xiaomi in 2015, a Chinese smartphone maker competing with global giants like Apple and Samsung.
As chief financial officer at Xiaomi, Chew played a key role in the company’s 2018 public listing. Yet the defining turn in his career came in 2021, when he joined ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, initially as chief financial officer.
Within months he assumed the role of TikTok CEO, taking charge of one of the fastest-growing social platforms in history. That promotion placed him directly in the spotlight and in the competitive field with Meta and its founder.
The App Zuckerberg Couldn’t Buy
In 2016, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta had their sights set on Musical.ly, a music-focused short-video app that had become wildly popular with American teens for its lip-syncing and easily shareable clips. Reports indicate Meta explored an acquisition, but ByteDance moved faster and bought Musical.ly for roughly $800 million.
A year later, ByteDance merged Musical.ly into its own short-video product, TikTok. The combined platform exploded in popularity and reshaped how audiences discover and consume content online. Meta attempted its own short-video offerings, including an app called Lasso, but those efforts failed to match TikTok’s viral momentum and were discontinued.
Under Chew’s leadership, TikTok became a cultural force, transforming short-form video into a dominant format for entertainment, discovery, and trends.
An Intern Turned Rival
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Jernej Furman
By 2023, TikTok surpassed one billion users worldwide and counted roughly 150 million users in the United States. What began as a lighthearted trend of short, creative videos evolved into a politically charged platform as U.S. lawmakers voiced concerns about national security and the app’s links to China.
Chew faced congressional hearings, where he defended TikTok’s approach to data privacy and security while also pointing out that large American tech platforms had their own records of privacy and content controversies. He presented a composed, fact-based case while navigating an intensely scrutinized environment.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg’s public posture shifted between warning that banning TikTok could impinge on free expression and highlighting the app’s potential data risks. The moment carried a striking irony: the person who once offered Chew an early entry into the tech world now viewed him as a formidable competitor.
Today, Shou Zi Chew leads a company that succeeded where many of Meta’s rivals did not. His path—from an economics graduate and Facebook intern to CEO of one of the most influential social platforms—illustrates how careers and industries can come full circle. The former intern is now the public face of a platform that continues to shape digital culture and keep competitors and regulators closely attentive.